


They Don't Trust Me, Lup

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Julia Burnsides Lives, Lup isn't in the umbra staff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-08 21:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15252042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: As far as we know, the, the- the rogue wizards, who called themselves Red Robes— as far as we know, the- the rogue wizards who created all of these, uh, weapons of mass destruction, these, these Red Robes, are all gone. They- they have all, um, most of them were killed in the mad hunt for these objects. Um, but- but as far as we know, we- we have not seen any Red Robes. If you notice any on your journey, if you encounter any, it’s- it’s imperative that you bring them to us; that you allow us to, uh, detain them, because the information that they hold may be… invaluable.That was what Lucretia had told them. And she wasn't wrong, the Red Robes were still out there. Two of them, at least. Two liches in Red Robes who had gone to set things to rights and ended up walking a path neither of them had ever expected.





	1. The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet

Somewhere far below on the surface of the world known as Abeir-Toril, on the continent of Faerun, another person had gotten their hands on the relic known as the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. Lup knew it wouldn’t take long before they used it, whoever they were, and she could only hope that they used it somewhere far from civilization, far from innocents. But after that? After that, she would make sure that no one else was hurt by her creation ever again. Lup pulled her robe on and grabbed the umbra staff, heading for the kitchen to leave a note for the others. It wouldn’t be long. She would be back soon, she was sure of that. 

Usually, this early in the morning, the kitchen of the Starblaster would be empty but not today. Today, Barry was sitting at the table with a cold cup of coffee beside him and his notes open on the table. Lup paused in the doorway and their eyes met. 

“Bear?”

He looked up, closing the notebook just as she saw that he’d been looking at his sketch of the Animus Bell.

“I uh... I figured you’d still be in bed.”

Lup shook her head and set the note on the table.

“I’m going to get it. To hide it better.” She took a breath and looked at him, almost worried. “And I’m not changing my mind about this, Bear.”

He stood, setting his notebook aside.

“No, no. That’s... that makes sense. I get it. Just uh... let me grab my robe and we can go.”

“We?”

Lup smiled. She hadn’t been expecting that, but gods it felt good to know he was with her. 

* * *

Time passed as they searched. Objectively, Lup knew that Taako was probably upset, probably worried. But she didn’t have time or energy to think about that. Not with her creation out in the world killing people. Not with Barry’s calm presence right there to keep her going. They woke up in the inn, tangled together in a sprawl of limbs and blankets, and Lup knew today was the day. They had been so close the night before. She just had to wait until the gauntlet was used and claim it, and hope she could minimize the damage it caused along the way.

“Lup?”

Barry’s voice was husky with sleep, his eyes still half-lidded as he pushed himself up to smile at her.

“Morning, Care Bear.”

She kissed him lightly and he pulled her in closer with one hand on her lower back.   
“Have we— have we got time for breakfast?”

Lup giggled and kissed him again.  
"Much as I would love that, Barry, we've got somewhere to be this morning."  
He sighed a little and sat up, still holding her in his lap.  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But a man can dream."

Lup kissed his forehead and then wiggled lose of his grip.

“After we get the gauntlet and stash it somewhere, we’ll see if we can’t find somewhere private. How’s that sound?”

Barry chuckled and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand. 

“Sounds perfect, babe.”

* * *

They climbed the rise of the hill together and when the flash of destruction came below, Barry squeezed Lup’s hand, silently offering love and support and a promise that this would be over soon. Then they walked down into the circle of black glass together to reclaim this weapon of her design. Lup took the gauntlet and held it close.

“Next stop, Phandalin. Right, babe?”

Lup nodded slowly and Barry put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and smiled slowly.

“It’s almost over.”

He kissed her forehead.

“We’ll go home soon.”

She nodded and tucked the gauntlet into her pack carefully. Together, they shaped a gate spell that would drop them near Phandalin. Once this was dealt with, once it couldn’t be undone. Then they would go back to the Starblaster. 

* * *

“Cyrus Rockseeker?”

The dwarf looked up at the human and the elf with suspicion in his eyes. But he heard them out. Hide a magic item in his clan’s vault deep in the mine. Make sure no one could ever get it again. Something so powerful that the human man didn’t even seem to want to touch it. The elf woman was holding it the whole time as they walked down into the mines. They were talking about something or other, plans probably. They’d been talking plans since he’d met them. It seemed like they were never going to shut up about what they were going to do ‘after’. Whatever that meant.

“We’re almost there.”

Cyrus frowned slightly, glancing over at the gauntlet again. What did that thing do, anyway? They certainly seemed scared of it. And the elf was holding it against like it was a weapon, but also like she was ashamed of it. Idiots. If they had a magic weapon, why weren’t they using it? Imagine the things you could do with something like that, the things you could accomplish. He could get rid of the gerblins that had been bothering them and then some. And here they were, trying to get rid of the damn thing.

“Good... good.” 

The human muttered it, nodding slowly. He didn’t seem to want to be here and he kept glancing at the gauntlet. Did he want it too? That was when Cyrus Rockseeker realized that he did want that gauntlet. He could let them lock it away and leave, just come back for it later. But what if they changed their minds? What if they tried to keep him from getting it? What if they decided to kill him to hide their secret? He would open the Rockseeker vault for them, that much was certain. After that? Well, he might be hiding a pair of bodies down here instead of the weapon they weren’t brave enough to use.

* * *

Barry was staying back, not entirely trusting himself not to fall under the thrall of the gauntlet that Lup had made. He could feel it and had thus far managed to resist it well enough. That didn’t mean he wasn’t on edge though. The dwarf, Cyrus, was stepping up to a door now, explaining again how it could only be opened with the blood of the Rockseekers. He turned, looking back the way they’d come. They’d be out of here soon enough. Soon enough, this would be over. The door was opening and Lup took a few steps forward. They just needed to put the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet in there. Lup would finally be able to relax without the guilt constantly hanging over her. Barry saw Cyrus move and couldn’t react, couldn’t do anything but scramble for his wand before the dwarf had pulled his dagger out and slashed at Lup. She turned, umbra staff raised as he grabbed the gauntlet out of her hands. Lup blasted Cyrus with a thunderwave as Barry leveled his wand and yelled an arcane word. Cyrus fell backwards into the vault, stunned. The door to the vault slammed shut and Barry turned, lowering his wand.

“Lup? Are you okay?”

She turned towards him, wincing with a hand on her arm.

“Yeah, babe. Just a scratch, you know?”

Her tone wasn’t entirely convincing. Barry frowned then as the blood dripping through her fingers began to turn black. She took a step towards him and stumbled. 

“Lup!”

Barry caught her and she leaned against him.

“Bear, I don’t... I don’t feel so good...”

He helped her to sit down and knelt beside her to look at the wound. The darkness in her veins was moving quickly, spreading through her entire body. Barry went pale and Lup grabbed his arm.

“It’ll be okay. Liches, remember. Be fine... It’s okay. M’not. Not leaving...”

Barry held her tight, tears staining his cheeks even as the life left her body. Her lich form rose and Lup started to turn, her spectral visage already smiling at him.

“Babe, I told you, it’ll be fine. Just-”

She was cut off as the umbra staff suddenly inverted, turning towards her. Barry grabbed it and forced it closed again. He shoved it under one arm, fighting to keep it there.

“Lup, go. If you’re gone, I can get this thing under control and...”

She didn’t even take the time to respond, zipping away down the passage in the direction they’d come from. Once she was out of rage, the umbra staff seemed to calm and Barry set it down beside her body. After a moment’s hesitation, he bent down again and took a blood sample just in case. They would have to find a new means of revivification and he would need a sample to be able to pull it off. Straightening again, he jogged after her. The gauntlet was hidden. Next stop, the Animus Bell. And he already knew where to go for that. They were just going to need to take a little more time. Find a way to get Lup a new body before they moved on with the plan. They’d be home soon enough.

* * *

They found the blackmarket on the way to Wonderland. It was a place decked in horrors and bestrewn with bones. The people who walked the market did so with hoods and masks and secrets. Except for Barry and Lup. They stood in front of one auction and exchanged a look. Revivification tanks. Someone on Faerun had developed a means of growing a new body. Barry ran his hand over the surface of one tank, examining it minutely.

“Looks like... I’d say it’s an applied version of the clone spell. That’s eighth level, at least. I could do it myself but...”

Lup floated beside him, looking curiously at the brackish green fluid.

“But?”

“It would take longer.” He fished in his pocket and looked at the coins from scattered planar systems. “And this is reusable. For both of us, not just me.”

Lup nodded once.

“Hell yeah, Bear. You snag one of those. I’m gonna go get myself a new wand. They’ve got some neat bone ones over there. We could match.”

Barry chuckled quietly and started to reach towards her hand. He would be so much happier when she had a body again.

* * *

Taako stood on the deck on the Starblaster and watched the sun rise over this stupid plane. Abeir-Toril. Faerun. Whatever. This shithole. Behind him was a table with scattered notes and a disarrayed map. This was all he had, just these disparate notes and a few vague reports of sightings. This was all he had to point him towards his sister and his best friend. Leaning heavily against the table, he wondered what could have possibly happened, why they had left. He heard footsteps coming out onto the deck behind him and he turned.

“Luce, what if they’re just...gone?”

* * *

The light of the revivification pod in the corner of the cave cast the whole place in a greenish hue, even with the several candles they’d spread around. Barry was laying on the small cot in the corner, skimming through a tome he’d acquired at the same necromantic market they’d found the tank. Lup was hovering in front of the tank, staring into it.

“You know, Lup, watching it isn’t gonna make it uh... it’s not gonna grow any faster.”

She turned over her shoulder.

“That’s not... It’s just weird, you know? That’s me in there, sort of, and that’s wild. Like... it’s me but it’s not me yet and... Never mind, I’m just getting nervous and philosophical.”

Setting his book aside with the page marked with a length of ribbon, Barry stood and went to her. He wished he could hug her, to really do anything other that just reassure with his words.

“It’s just the same as... as on the Starblaster. Until it’s done just... just don’t... I mean, obviously not don’t think about-“ He stopped then, blinking a few times. “What was... what was I...?”

He took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. Then he looked at her, confusion and fear in his eyes.

“Barry? Is... Are you okay, babe?”

Barry stumbled backwards, falling when he collided with the cot.

“Don’t!”

He flung his hands up in front of his face and Lup pulled back.

“What the fuck is going on? Bear?”

She held out her hands, trying to figure out how to look non-threatening when she literally had a skull for a face. Then Barry adjusted his glasses again, looking up at her.

“Who... Who are you?”


	2. Old Memories and New

Lup didn't want to leave Barry alone. Not with the way he was looking at her, not with the stark fear in his eyes even as he pulled further back into the corner the small bed was on. At the same time, she knew she needed to go find out what was happening. She hesitated for a moment and looked at him.

"Okay, Bear, I need you to tell me exactly what the last thing you remember is, okay?"

Barry adjusted his glasses, staring at her.

"I... Fuck, I don't know? I mean... I remember home and... Where are we? Is this a cave?"

He was looking around, confused now but seeming to relax a bit. Good enough start. She could work with that.

"Yeah, we've been crashing here for a little bit. Just a few days. Do you... do you remember who I am?" When he shook his head, she felt cold. "I'm... It's me, Lup."

Barry's eyebrows came together, a little crease of frustration forming on his forehead.

"I didn't catch that last part? It... just sort of sounded like static?"

For a long moment, Lup just floated there. Static? Then she remembered. Fisher. Fisher's static and... undead were immune to the effects. What the hell had gone wrong on the Starblaster?

"I don't know what's happening, but I need you to stay right here until I get back. I need to go make sure the rest of... that everybody else is okay. Got it?"

He nodded slowly and reached for the book he'd been reading before, looking at it oddly. It was like he didn't even recognize it. 

"Yeah... I'll be right here. Um... scary lich lady."

Lup's heart hurt at those words, but she knew she had to go, had to leave him there and trust that he would still be there when she got back, when she'd found a way to fix this.

* * *

The Starblaster was unnervingly silent as Lup floated on board. Things had been quiet lately, sure, but not  _silent._ Not like this. 

"Taako?"

There was no answer. She went through the main cabin, the kitchen, out onto the deck. Nothing. Where the hell was everyone? She finally decided to see if something was wrong with Fisher, and was on her way to Lucretia's room, when she heard a sound coming from the bridge. 

"Cap'nport? Is that you?"

Entering the bridge, she saw their captain standing near the helm, staring at the instruments and looking distressed. He was muttering quietly to himself and Lup started to worry. What if something had happened? What if the rest of the team was-?

She veered off that train of thought violently and moved towards him.

"Cap?"

He turned quickly, looking up at her with wide, startled eyes.

"I'm... I'm Davenport."

For just a moment, Lup wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Okay, sure,  _Davenport_ , whatever. Where's everybody else? What happened? Barry's back on the surface and he's a fucking mess. Did something happen with Fisher?"

Davenport moved closer, hands out in front of him almost like he couldn't see. He took a shaky breath and licked his lips.

"I'm Davenport. I'm... I'm  _Davenport_."

Lup pulled back, her eyes widening in fear. Something was very, very wrong and she had no idea what.

"Okay, let's pretend for a minute that this is totally Fisher... How the hell do I fix it?"

First stop, Lucretia's room. She knew where Davenport was now, at least. And he'd be alright once she fixed this. If she could figure out how. There was Fisher's tank just like always, full of water and...

"Holy shit, are those Luce's journals? Did you eat the fucking  _mission logs?_ "

Well, that tracked at least. But where was Lucretia? They all knew she was immune to it. Since the cycle with the dracolich when she'd been singing static. She would have a way to fix this, wherever she was. Then she looked at the tank again. She and Barry had run experiments one cycle, just for giggles after they'd gotten the Light and didn't have much else to do. They'd figured out it was the ichor. But they'd never actually drank the stuff. Was that it? Lucretia must have at some point. But that didn't explain how Fisher had gotten the journals. Either way, she knew what she had to do. But wait. Shit. She didn't know how long Barry would stay in the cave with his memory fucked up. 

And then she heard someone else walking around on the Starblaster, someone with heavier footfalls than Davenport. It only took her a moment to recognize it as Lucretia and she felt a wave of relief course through her. Perfectly, someone else who could help her and they'd have this whole thing sorted out in just a few minutes and-

"Come on, Davenport. It's time to go. I found someplace safe for you."

"Davenport."

Lup blinked a few times. What the actual fuck? Every instinct told her to go out there and confront Lucretia, to find out what was going on. But then she remembered Barry. Davenport would be alright. She would find him again as soon as she could, but Barry was alone and he had to be her first priority right now. Lup cast a mage hand to grab a jar full of the liquid from Fisher's tank and leaped off the side of the ship to float back down to the world below. Her mind was buzzing with concerns but she filtered most of it out for now. Barry first. Then she could worry about where her family was... where her brother was. 

* * *

When Lup got back to the cave, Barry was standing looking at the map on the wall with a frown of concentration on his face. She carefully set the jar down on the table, trying to think of how to convince him to drink it. Then she looked over at the tank in the corner. Okay, first she needed to split it so they had multiple doses or just separate one out? Barry turned around then, looking at her.

"You're the lich from before, right? Not a different one? And uh... and you're still not planning on killing me, right?"

Even without a corporeal form, her chest felt tight when he said that.

"I would never. And yeah, it's still me." She pointed towards the jar, casting a quick prestidigitation to make it sparkle. "Can you like... just do a shot of this for me, Barold? It'll make things make a whole lot of sense. I promise."

Barry hesitated for a moment and then poured a little of it into a camp cup before downing it with a shrug. He made a face at the taste and then dropped his cup.

"Oh... oh shit.  _Oh shit._  Lup, babe, I... I... What the hell happened?"

Lup settled around him, closing her eyes in relief.

"Fisher ate Luce's journals. Cap'nport's... he's a mess. And Lucretia's... She up to something. Fuck, Barry, something is going on and I don't know what. I grabbed a bunch of the ichor from the tank, in case we need more but... Dammit, Barry, I couldn't find Taako."

Barry reached up, carefully settling a mage hand around his own hand so he could touch her spectral hand.

"We'll find him, babe, I promise. We just need to..." 

His gaze flicked over to the tank in the corner and Lup sighed.

"I know, I know. It's almost done and then we go." She paused for a moment. "You know you're gonna have to talk me into drinking that shit, right?"

"I'll figure it out. Don't you worry."

* * *

Lup stumbled out of the tank, soaking wet and disoriented. She didn't know where she was or how she had gotten here. Or why she'd been in a tank full of weird green shit. Then a man appeared in her line of sight with a relieved look on his face.

"Lup, here." He held out a robe to her and she stared at it, vaguely processing that she was naked. "Go on, it's yours. And uh... and you need to drink this. It'll clear your head."

Lup shooked her head a little and pulled the robe on.

"I'm not drinking your bullshit hangover cure, nerd lord." Then she looked him over again, a grin spreading across her face. "Did I party with you last night? Too bad I don't remember shit. You're kinda cute."

Barry chuckled quietly.

"Babe, we're married."

Her ears flicked back as she tilted her head to the side.

"Didn't catch that. Are you like... okay? Because that didn't even sound like words."

Barry held the cup out again, trying to ignore the sting of pain. It was the Voidfish. She didn't remember. But everything would be alright again just as soon as she drank the ichor.

"It's the hangover. You went a little uh... a little harder than usual. This'll... this'll make you feel a lot better. Promise."

Lup took the cup and sniffed it, giving him a skeptical look. 

"My dude, this shit smells like fish and-"

Barry cut her off, meeting her eyes steadily as he exerted his will. It was the art any talented necromancer could do, the ability to command the undead. And they were both undead enough that he could do it... a bit... even when they were in a physical form. She would understand later, once she remembered.

"Drink it."

Lup tossed the drink back and swallowed. She shuddered for a moment and the cup fell from her fingers as she stumbled forward. Barry caught her, releasing his control on her as he hugged her tightly.

"Barry?"

He kissed her forehead gently.

"Sorry, babe. You were being stubborn and I uh..."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Sorry, Bear. I just... Fuck, that was awful." She took a deep breath and then looked up at him, alarmed. "I couldn't remember you or... or any of the team. I couldn't even remember  _Taako_."

Lup's voice was shaky and she held tight to Barry. 

"We'll find him, I promise. We'll find all of them. And we'll figure out what happened."

* * *

Over the coming years, they tried to track the others. Lucretia was... Lucretia was just gone. From time to time, they would hear rumors of a woman matching her description but no one ever seemed to know who she was. Davenport had to be with her but there hadn't even been rumors of their captain. Taako was easy enough to find at first, given that his name was all over the traveling cooking show he was starring in. But every time Lup started to get close, he vanished again. His wanderings made no sense, followed no pattern. Finally, they resorted to just tracking him against the day they would actually find him. Merle was easy enough to find but by the time Barry and Lup got there, he was married to some woman named Hecuba and had kids. That left Magnus. 

* * *

 

They arrived on the outskirts of the city of Ravens Roost four years after the day of forgetting. Barry had his hands in his pockets as he walked, his focus entirely on tracking the magical signature that only someone from their homeworld would have. Magnus had spent a lot of time here and traces of him were everywhere. Lup was looking around, talking to people.

"I don't know why they're being cagey. They definitely know Mags..."

Barry shrugged a little.

"You know Mags. He probably punched the wrong guy and now his uh... his new friends and trying to keep him from getting punched back." He smiled a little. "Remember Cycle 25?"

Lup laughed and reached for his hand.

"You mean the time he punched a storm giant? We were cleaning up after that mess for a month."

They heard a woman laughing behind them and Lup turned. A human woman stood there, her curly hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. She was wearing a heavy leather apron over her dress and carrying a basket full of parcels wrapped in brown paper.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you talking about Magnus Burnsides? I only heard Mags and punching something but... Honestly, that sounds a lot like my husband, so I had to ask." Then she smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Julia."

Lup shook her hand, doing her best to hide the surprise on her face.

"I'm Lup. This is Barry. We're friends of Magnus' and we've been looking for him for... a long time. It's really nice to meet you. I don't suppose Mags is around?"

"You just missed him. He left for Neverwinter yesterday for a carpentry competition and he won't be back for a few days. But if you wanted to wait for him, you could stay at our place."

Barry adjusted his glasses and then frowned, turning. He still had his detection spells active and something was tugging on the edges of them, something he didn't like.

"Lup, do you feel-?"

Before he could finish the question, an explosion rocked the city. Julia was thrown off her feet and Lup caught her. Before either of them could say anything, Barry had pulled his wand from the pocket of his jeans and was running towards the source of the explosion. Lup spared only a glance at him before grabbing Julia's arm and raising her new wand and began to shape a doorway in the air.

"Come on, we need to split."

Julia started to say something, turning towards another part of the city as the gate formed in the air.

"My-"

"No time."

Another explosion rocked the Roost and Lup solidified her spell. There was a crash nearby as one of the buildings came down. The portal snapped into the air and Lup shoved Julia through it. Then she started shouting for other people who were nearby to go through as well. As the Roost shook a third time, Lup grabbed a sobbing gnomish toddler who stood staring at a collapsed house and dove through her gate. 

* * *

Barry threw a shield up, running on pure instinct as the city crumbled around him. When he got to the edge, he could see the flames underneath. That's where the explosions were coming from, there was where he needed to go. Jumping off the cliff, Barry cast feather fall and turned, trying to get a better look. There was a magical trace here. More alchemical, really, and sloppy. Whoever had made the device that had done this wasn't very good at their work. But then again, explosions weren't hard or expensive to produce. Not even on this scale. Barry touched down lightly and then ran towards the pillars that Ravens Roost sat perched on. There had to be something he could do. Then the third explosion rocked the city and he looked up as the stones began to crumble. He couldn't worry about that now though, he needed to make sure this was just alchemy, just explosions, that there wasn't anything else more sinister baked into it. You could bake so much into a spell if you were at all creative. And there it was, a subtle thread of power of a kind he knew oh so well. Barry grabbed that little bit of necromancy twisted into the alchemical workings and tugged, ripping it to shreds with the sheer force of will of an arch-lich. The inlaid curse dissolved just seconds before the pillars collapsed.

* * *

Julia caught Lup as she fell through the portal and then turned at the rumbling sound as Ravens Roost collapsed. One hand went to her mouth and Lup hugged the sobbing child in her arms closer. For just a moment, silence hung between them and then Julia ran towards the rubble. She was yelling something Lup couldn't quite make out at first and then Lup's ears flicked straight up as she realized. Dad. She was yelling Dad.

"Fuck." She looked down and realized the gnomeling in her arms was staring up at her with wide eyes. "Definitely don't repeat that, little dude."

She followed after Julia, adjusting the child as she walked so he was resting on her hip. Then she saw the red specter float out of the ruins and sighed a little.

"Beefed it again, huh, Bear?"

He shrugged a little and then grinned.

"Good thing we planned ahead on that front. But uh... You're gonna have to get my wand out of there." Then he looked at the child and tilted his head to the side. "Lup, you uh... you've got..."

Lup took another step towards Barry.

"I couldn't just leave him there. And I haven't exactly seen anybody I can hand him to yet." She adjusted her grip on the child again and looked past Barry at the ruins. "Babe, what happened?"

He glanced back and shook his head.

"Explosives under the city. Can't... couldn't have been there for more than twelve hours. It was... it was alchemical, mostly just explosive but with a trace of necromancy mixed in. I cleaned that part out before everything came down but I couldn't do anything else." He scrubbed at his face with one skeletal hand. "Believe me, I tried."

Julia was trying to shift the stones by hand and Lup looked up at Barry.

"Come on, babe, we need to help. I'll see if I can find... someone who can take this little guy. You help Julia. Then... I think we should take her with us, keep looking for the others."

Barry nodded, already shaping a spell between his hands.

"Makes sense. Maybe she'll know how we can get to Mags."

"I'd tell you to be careful, Barry, but that ship already done sailed. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done, okay?"

He gave her a thumbs up and floated over to help Julia, levitating the stones away as she directed their search for survivors.

* * *

By the time they were done pulling casualties from the wreckage of the city, it was drawing down dark. Lup had found a family of halflings who at least knew who the child (Lanlen Brightspark) was and would recognize his parents, if they'd made it out. Leaving them in charge of the little gnome, she'd spent the rest of the day helping until she and her spell slots were entirely exhausted. She slumped down, leaning against a tree and Barry hovered nearby, worry on his face.

"I'm good, promise. Just fuckin' beat. Long day. You know how it is."

Julia dropped down to sit next to Lup, her face smeared with dirt and stained with tear tracks. Then she looked at Lup.

"I... didn't have a chance before to say thank you. For the gate."

Lup waved it off with a lazy smile.

"Hey, you married our Mags, that makes you family. And I don't leave family behind. It's a rule." Then LIup's smile faded and her ears flicked back. "Sorry about your dad." 

Julia looked down for a moment and then back up, resolve in her eyes.

"I'll make sure Kalen pays for that." Then she paused. "Where did your... ? Did Barry make it out? Is he alright?"

Lup gestured up at the lich hovering just above them and Barry waved awkwardly.

"I'm good. Okay... well, not  _good,_ precisely. Um... slightly less than alive but still doing alright."

For just a moment, Julia looked disoriented and confused then she looked back at Lup.

"Is that actually a lich? Are you friends with a lich?"

Lup laughed a little.

"Uh, yeah. And I'm a lich too."

Julia blinked and then shook her head a little, trying to clear it.

"Sorry, I think I missed a word in there?"

"Right... Voidfish." Lup looked up at Barry. "The rest of the ichor's in the cave, right? Because we're gonna need to get her dosed if we're gonna go find Mags. Because I'm not playing the shittiest game of fantasy Mad Libs the whole way there and back."

Barry nodded.

"Yeah, and I need to uh... to get the pod growing another body for me."

Lup stood slowly, leaning against the tree for a minute. She turned towards Julia and held out her hand.

"So, you can totally say no here and I would totally get it if you did. Some wild shit went down and you're grieving and that's one hundred percent legit. But we seriously need to find Magnus. And there's a whole bunch of shit going on that I literally can't tell you unless you come with us and drink some gross ass fish water. Which, yeah, totally sounds awful, but its really important. So, here's my question, you in?"

Julia Burnsides looked back at the ruins of Ravens Roost for a long moment before she took Lup's hand.

"If Magnus is involved, I'm in. Just let me grab what I can before we leave."

* * *

They set out in the morning, with Julia dressed once more in the chain armor she'd made for the rebellion and with two slightly curved swords in a sheath across her back. She was quiet as she slung a pack over her shoulder and looked down the road. She would see Magnus again soon, she was sure of that. He was in Neverwinter and he was safe and she would see him soon. Lup had been able to tell her some the night before, about how they were friends but some force had separated them and how Magnus wouldn't remember a lot of it if anything. There were also large gaps where Julia had only heard static. The lich had said they would be able to fix that soon, once they got to some cave and got... something important. Fish water, apparently. 

It took some time for them to arrive at the warded cave near the town of Phandalin and the moment they arrived, Lup poured Julia a shot of Voidfish ichor.

"Bottom's up, babe. Sorry in advance about the taste."

Julia looked into the cup and then tossed the drink back, swallowing it without so much as letting it touch her tongue. Then her eyes went wide as memories streamed in. The Relic Wars. Gods, how had she forgotten the devastation? She looked at Lup, confusion written across her face and Lup motioned for her to sit.

"Okay, I'm gonna say a few words and I want you to let me know if you can hear them, got it?" When Julia nodded, Lup continued. "Cool cool. Phoenix Fire Gauntlet. IPRE. Starblaster. The Hunger." Julia nodded along with each and Lup relaxed visibly. "Awesome, it works. And that makes it storytime." Lup shifted so she could watch Julia's face. "It starts one hundred years ago with a group known as the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration. The IPRE."

Julia was enraptured through the entire story, listening to Lup weave words while Barry did something with the tank in the back of the cave. And she could see now that the lich was Barry in a way she hadn't been able to before. It had been like something was obscuring his features, blurring him into just being a shadow in a red robe. 

* * *

They went back to find Magnus a few days later, when he should have been coming back to Ravens Roost, and they found only signs that he had come and gone. They'd just missed him and now he could be anywhere. Julia considered going out looking for him on her own, but quickly decided instead that she would have better luck finding him if she stayed with Lup and Barry.

* * *

It was a year later that they finally nailed down an exact location for Taako but once again, it wasn't in time. Lup was a tight ball of fury as she read the report Julia had sent back after going to the town of Glamour Springs to see if she could track Taako. Poisoning, forty dead, Taako held responsible by the local authorities and now he was on the run. Transmutation magic gone bad or intentional poisoning. Neither sounded like Taako. Even at his worst, Taako's bark had always been worse than his bite. Lup could think of a thousand times that he'd been in a fix and just run when she would have fought. And even the times when he'd actually gotten mad enough at someone to do something about it, he went after just one person. The other idea, the idea that Taako had botched a transmutation spell was absolutely laughable. Her brother was the best transmutation wizard in living memory. No one knew that better than she did. He could rewrite bone and sinew, reshape flesh. Swapping some berries for other, more different berries was pretty much a parlor trick at that point. 

What was worse though, was that now he was completely off the grid. It was as though Taako had ceased to exist and she had no idea where to look for him. They were back at square one and she had no idea what to do other than just blindly search the world. Someday, they would find the clue they were looking for. Someday, she would figure out how to bring her family back together.


End file.
